How to Improve International Cooperation?

This question has been on my mind right from the preparation of the trip till the present day. Almost everybody knows how relevant it is to help somebody who needs it, and thanks to international relations we know that helping challenged areas of the world is essential. During my trip to Haiti I realized how hard it can really be to cooperate.

Right from the start we agreed to make the preparations and the entire project in the most responsible manner. And yet my tickets ended up being very expensive and I wasn’t satisfied. When I arrived it Haiti, it became evident how all the other organizations had failed to do what we had set out to do. In fact, the UN was the focus of at least one big scandal: they were apparently responsible for spreading cholera. Thanks to the many international organizations, the rate for translators had evolved into twice or thrice the normal rate. In addition, it was very easy to identify the ulterior motives of helping the country, which is well related by Jonathan Katz in his book, “The Big Truck That Went By”.

International cooperation is indeed necessary, but how do we improve it? From my experience from the Deep Dive, there are three basic things to keep in mind: First, be prepared to assimilate a broad margin of effects that we produce with our actions. Second, consider local opinion. Third, work to achieve what inspired us to get involved in the first place.